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Writing Assignments

Paper 1: The Summary

For this assignment, you'll be summarizing Paul A. Cantor's "The Apocalyptic Strain in Popular Culture: The American Nightmare Becomes the American Dream." You can find this reading on the "Readings" page of this site or on BlackBoard. This assignment should be a minimum of 550 words and is worth 10% of your overall grade.

For a summary, your goals are to a) identify Cantor's thesis, b) identify his main argumentative points, and then c) restate those in your own words. Your summary should cover all of Cantor's major arguments while remaining both brief and understandable. For a more in-depth look at this essay, make sure to read the assignment sheet.

Here are some important dates to remember:

Tuesday, September 16th: Your rough draft is due in class. This is also the last day to schedule a draft meeting with me.

Thursday, September 18th: Your final draft is due via SafeAssign by midnight. I do accept late papers with a 10 point per day deduction.

Paper 2: The Explanatory Synthesis

For your second paper assignment, write a an explanatory synthesis of Stephen Moore's "Apocalypse Not" and John Carey's "In-Depth Report on Climate Change." In writing this paper, your job is to explain how these authors present different views on extreme weather and climate change.

Paper 3: The Critique

For your third paper assignment, write a critique of Amy Wallace’s “An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All.” In writing a critique, your job is to evaluate the writer’s argument in terms of its logic, efficacy, and validity. To do this, you'll be identifying Wallace's rhetorical strategies and discussing whether they support or undermine her argument.

November 6th: Rough draft is due in class. This is also the last day you can schedule a draft review with me.

November 11th: Paper 3 due via SafeAssign by midnight.

Paper 4: The Research Paper

For your fourth paper assignment, you will be writing a problem/solution paper over an apocalyptic issue related to your field of study. You can either choose an apocalyptic topic and discuss how your field is helping to solve the problem, or you may choose an apocalyptic issue within your field and posit solutions.